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NEW YORK, March 31- Warren Buffett, the billionaire chief executive officer and chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc, said Tuesday that an exit by Greece from the euro zone could be constructive for the region. "If it turns out the Greeks leave, that may not be a bad thing for the euro," Buffett told cable television network CNBC. He said a Greek exit from the euro zone could...

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DUBLIN, March 31- Canada's Fairfax Financial Holdings has sold half of its 5.8 percent stake in Bank of Ireland for more than triple what it paid for it in 2011, a source with knowledge of the deal said, pushing the share price down 6 percent. Bank of Ireland shares were down 6 percent at 36.2 euro cents at 0725 GMT following the sale, which was managed by Deutsche Bank.

NEW YORK/ LONDON, March 30- Mergers and acquisitions this year reached their highest first-quarter level since 2007, as companies defied headwinds such as currency and oil price volatility and sought growth-boosting deals amid favorable financing conditions. "The deal activity in the first quarter was driven by continuing cash accumulation at companies,...

WASHINGTON, March 30- Hedge fund mogul William Ackman, who has spent more than two years accusing Herbalife Ltd of running a pyramid scheme, said on Monday that shutting down the company is "one of the most important things" he can do. Speaking at a meeting of the Council of Institutional Investors' in Washington, Ackman said again that Herbalife has caused "enormous...

Parent company Trump Entertainment Resorts, which Icahn is acquiring, says Stockton University should have bought the shuttered Atlantic Club at the opposite end of town for its campus instead of the Showboat. McDevitt said it is immoral for Icahn, through Trump Entertainment, to block the Showboat redevelopment when the company is sitting on the vacant...

OLYMPIA, Wash.— A politically charged proposal to raise Washington's highest-in-the-nation state minimum wage to $12 an hour over four years drew extended debate and a capacity crowd to a Senate committee hearing Monday. The bill to raise minimum wage via a series of annual 50- cent increases, passed the Democrat-controlled House in a party-line vote earlier...

PARIS, March 30- U.S. hedge fund P. Schoenfeld Asset Management has accused French media group Vivendi of giving too much leeway to chairman and largest shareholder Vincent Bollore to boost his stake at "undervalued prices". PSAM, which says it owns 0.8 percent of Vivendi, is trying to rally other shareholders to vote for two resolutions at an upcoming annual...

KIEV, Ukraine— Russia plans to eliminate Ukraine as an independent state and could spark a new offensive in the east to achieve that aim, Ukraine's prime minister told The Associated Press on Friday. Ukraine and the West accuse Russia of being directly involved in the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine which has left over 6,000 dead in the last year.

March 26- Apple Inc Chief Executive Tim Cook is joining the roster of the very rich who are giving away their wealth. Fortune magazine cited the head of the world's largest technology corporation as saying he planned to donate his estimated $785 million fortune to charity- after paying for his 10- year-old nephew's college education. Billionaire financier...

PARIS, March 26- Margarita Louis-Dreyfus has tightened her control over Louis Dreyfus Commodities B.V., and said solid 2014 results showed the trading group could take its time in its almost year-long search for a new chief executive. The Russian-born billionaire said on Thursday her family trust, Akira, had raised its stake in Louis Dreyfus Holding to 80...

LONDON/ NEW YORK, March 26- Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest brewer, is close to proposing JAB Holding Chief Executive Olivier Goudet as its next chairman, according to four sources familiar with the matter. Goudet, born in 1964, has served as chief financial officer of US confectionery giant Mars Inc. Since June 2012, he has been partner and CEO of JAB...

NEW YORK, March 25- When Kraft Foods Group merges with H.J. Heinz Co, they will share a name, a central place in the American kitchen and two headquarters near Chicago and Pittsburgh. Heinz's backer, Brazilian private equity firm 3 G Capital Partners, has made a name for itself by aggressively trimming the fat from food and beer companies struggling for growth.

SAN FRANCISCO, March 24- Oil prices could hit $100 a barrel by the end of next year, U.S. oil magnate T. Boone Pickens said on Tuesday, revising his previous forecast which said they would reach that level as early as this year. "I think you could very well be at $100 a barrel by the end of 2016," the 86- year-old billionaire and chair of BP Capital told an audience of about 100...

Scott Walker on Tuesday dismissed a report that he helped steer tax credits and eased up on environmental oversight to benefit national hardware chain Menards after its billionaire owner donated $1.5 million to a conservative group. Yahoo News reported Monday that John Menard Jr. gave the money to Wisconsin Club for Growth to help advance Walker's agenda...

LONDON— European cell phone operator Telefonica SA said Tuesday it has reached an agreement to sell its British business, O2, to Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. for 10.25 billion pounds. Spain- based Telefonica said the purchase price includes an initial amount of 9.3 billion pounds and another 1 billion pounds to be paid later.

BILLINGS, Mont.— One-time billionaire and Yellowstone Club founder Tim Blixseth owes almost $74 million in back taxes, penalties and interest in Montana, state revenue officials said Tuesday, after a tax board ruled that the real estate mogul diverted huge sums from the luxury resort for personal use. Revenue officials said the Washington state resident and...

NEW YORK— A federal judge, citing national security concerns, on Monday threw out a defamation lawsuit a wealthy Greek shipping magnate brought against a nonprofit organization seeking to prevent Iran's efforts to obtain nuclear weapons. District Judge Edgardo Ramos in Manhattan said the government had shown there was no solution that would let the...

NEW YORK, March 23- Revlon Inc has reached a settlement with a former chief scientific officer whose claims the company's chief executive made derogatory statements about Jews, Americans and black people went viral on social media. Revlon said in a statement that the case was "amicably resolved." Meyers, who joined Revlon in 2010 and was fired in December last year,...

BUENOS AIRES, March 22- Citigroup Inc said it has been authorized by a U.S. judge to process two Argentine debt payments, the bank said, which could ease tensions between the bank and the default-hit nation. District Judge Thomas Griesa in New York ruled that Argentina must settle with the hedge funds seeking full payment on their defaulted sovereign bonds before...